468 HISTORY OF PASADENA. 



moving earth, and another price for removing rock. To external appear- 

 ance at first the hill seemed mostly a body of earth that could be worked up 

 with pick and shovel, plow and scraper, and so be done without very great 

 expense. But as the work progressed it was soon found that the main bulk 

 of the hill was composed of a sort of cement rock or conglomerate, and a 

 peculiar formation of brecciable granite, or " bastard granite," as the work- 

 men called it. These were new features in the case ; and the more obdurate 

 material was of such an unusual character that it very soon became an im- 

 portant financial question whether it was in a legal sense "earth" or 

 "rock" material. This was submitted to a commission of experts at Los 

 Angeles, and they decided that it was "rock." This result at once more 

 than doubled the amount of money necessary beyond what was at first sup- 

 posed would accomplish the leveling down of the hill. Drilling and blast- 

 ing had to be resorted to on a large scale, and i,ooo kegs of black powder 

 and over a ton of giant powder were used up before the job was completed. 

 Thomas Banbury of Pasadena had this contract. The number of men and 

 teams employed varied at different times, but at one time as high as seventy- 

 five teams and 250 men were on the pay-roll of this job. Of course there 

 was then no railroad to Pasadena, and the lumber for the great building 

 was delivered by the Southern Pacific R. R. Co. at San Gabriel station, 

 and hauled up from there by teams, Mr. Banbury having this teaming 

 work in hand also. The grading and lumber hauling occupied about four 

 months of actual working time. 



As a token and tender of their hearty good will toward Mr. Raymond's 

 enterprise, and their willingness to aid it all they could, the people of Pasa- 

 dena subscribed $1,400 to buy five shares of water, and pipe it to the hotel 

 site. The Pasade^ia Urtion of March i, 1884, said: 



' ' Mr. Thomas Banbury, from the looks of things, will soon have the 

 old landmark. Bacon Hill, reduced to the proper level for the foundation of 

 the hotel. On Monday at high noon Mrs. Banbury lighted the three fuses 

 that exploded 2,500 pounds of powder, the consequence of which was the 

 complete disorganization of the last point of rock on the summit of the 

 hill." 



The fact that a woman had touched off this tremendous blast was a mat- 

 ter of local celebrity at the time, and makes one of the historic incidents 

 connected with the erection of the Raymond hotel. That particular blast I 

 heard myself, and it made a little earthquake for a mile or two around. On 

 March 22 the Union said : 



"Two vessels have arrived at San Pedro with 900,000 feet of lumber, 

 and 500,000 shingles for the Raymond hotel. The contract for hauling all 

 the lumber (2,250,000 feet) has been let, and work is rapidly progressing; 

 500,000 bricks are now burned and being used on the foundation, the first 

 brick of which was laid on Thursday." 



On April 26 the same paper announced a suspension of work on the 



